Mara, Haynes In Hall Of Fame

January 26, 1997|By DOM AMORE; Courant Staff Writer

NEW ORLEANS — Wellington Mara, the co-owner of the Giants who has spent nearly all his 80 years involved in the NFL, and defensive back Mike Haynes, one of the best players in Patriots history, were elected Saturday to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Mara was in New Orleans, in church, when the announcement came at noon Saturday. He had laryngitis and preferred not to hold a press conference, but released this statement through Giants spokesman Pat Hanlon:

``Naturally, I am very honored and surprised at my election to the Hall of Fame. I don't feel like I've ever been one to make or contribute to the headlines. I guess my chief qualification is longevity.''

Don Shula, the winningest coach in NFL history, and center Mike Webster, a member of the four-time Super Bowl champion Steelers in the 1970s, were also chosen from 15 finalists by the Hall of Fame's 36- member selection committee Saturday morning. They will be inducted in Canton, Ohio, July 26.

Shula, who was 347-173-6 with six Super Bowl appearances and two victories as coach of the Colts (1963-69) and Dolphins (1970-95), was considered certain to make it in his first year of consideration.

``I can't tell you how great I feel,'' Shula said. ``It's really an evaluation of your whole career. When you start out coaching, you hope you'll be recognized, and this is the ultimate recognition.''

Mara's selection was in recognition of a lifetime in the game. His father, Tim, who is also in the Hall of Fame, founded the Giants in 1925, when the NFL was five years old and desperate for a presence in New York. He had been around the team as a teenager and became a full-time employee as secretary in 1937. Wellington Mara, who shared ownership with his brother Jack, made most of the player-personnel decisions that assembled the Giants teams of the 1950s and '60s. Those teams won six division championships and the 1956 NFL title.

``The Giants are the kind of team that once you put their uniform on, you feel like it's the only place you've ever played,'' said Fox announcer Pat Summerall, who played for the Giants in 1958-61. ``And Wellington is a big reason for that.''

The Giants have been selling out home games since those days. Mara ushered the team to Giants Stadium, built in New Jersey in 1976. Though general manager George Young has made nearly all football decisions since 1979, Wellington has remained informed and involved in team and league matters.

``His priorities have always been his religion and his family first,'' Young said, ``then the league, and then the Giants. In that order. Nobody has acted more with the idea that what's good for his team is good for all the teams.''

As chairman of the management council, Mara was instrumental in negotiating several collective bargaining agreements with the players union. He was an early proponent of the NFL's revenue-sharing policy, which has been credited with allowing small-market teams such as the Packers to remain competitive.

The late Pete Rozelle, commissioner in 1960-89, said of Mara: ``His contributions are easy to take for granted because of his low-key approach, but for those of us who watched the league develop, we know that Wellington's contributions are a big reason why the NFL is what it is today. There can be no minimizing the importance of his `league-first' attitude.''

Haynes, 43, wanted to be a wide receiver, but his college coach, Frank Kush at Arizona State, moved him to the defensive backfield. He joined the Patriots as a No. 1 draft pick in 1976 and had eight interceptions and an AFC-high 608 yards on punt returns to make the first of nine Pro Bowls. The Patriots, 3-11 in 1975, finished 11-3 and won the AFC East that year.

In 1983, after his contract expired, the Raiders surrendered two high draft picks to sign Haynes -- that was free agency at the time. He played seven years with the Raiders, helping them win Super Bowl XVIII. He finished with 46 career interceptions.

``I had a lot of great players and coaches around me with the Patriots and the Raiders,'' said Haynes, who analyzed games for Fox. ``I consider myself more of a Raider because I finished my career there. But having spent seven years in both places, I can't see going into the Hall of Fame as one or the other. I hope I won't have to pick one.''